


Syndicate/Wonderland

by epherians



Series: Syndicate/Wonderland [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Alice in Wonderland References, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, No Spoilers, Puns & Word Play, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-06 02:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5400200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epherians/pseuds/epherians
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t.</p><p>Assassin’s Creed Syndicate pre-release, inspired by prompts from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. No spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Syndicate/Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ was published in 1865, three years before the game takes place. Naturally, this sprung forth a most clever and genius source of prompts to write about!
> 
> This was _supposed_ to be completed before Syndicate was released, but now I've already played the main story, so a few details have been added alluding (barely) to what happens in the game. However, this piece is still rooted in pre-release context: that is, the premise is vague, the storyline is _shrouded_ , and the only characters we know anything about are Jacob and Evie (with a slight mention of mentor!Henry). Some sentences don’t even match what happens in the game, but that’s the beauty of a pre-release era: all you have to work with is pure speculation.

**Down the Rabbit Hole**

Jacob and Evie Frye are awestruck at seeing London for the first time.

As the train nears its destination, soon the twins will arrive at the very heart of their home nation. Change is all around them, moving the world faster than the people can keep up. The Templars don’t deserve to exploit this chance any longer than they have.

The situation is troublesome for the British Assassins, and it will only be the start of a long and gradual task to take back control of the city. But as the train arrives in the station, that feeling of worry is quickly engulfed by one of excitement. The twins dreamed of going to London and making their mark, and now their chance has come to do so. All it took, really, was a literal leap of faith onto a passing train.

Little do they know what awaits them in this new world of adventure.

 

* * *

 

**Curiouser and Curiouser**

There’s plenty to do once they get settled in London and acquainted with Henry Green. Starting their own gang to combat the Templars is one of them, according to Jacob. Henry didn’t sit with the idea that Assassins should be giving away their whereabouts, but Evie does reason that they need to build a solid presence and gain support for their cause. Perhaps the Rooks can also create the public spectacle that the Assassins were once known for in the earliest ages, creating a cover that can allow them to carry out swift, sudden assassinations without getting caught.

Managing the day-to-day operations of the Rooks, however, becomes a full-time job in itself. There are associates to help out, funds to budget and allocate, and a train to help take care of if they’re going to sleep under a moving roof. When they take on such efforts like liberating strongholds and challenging the Blighters of the borough, everyone, whether Jacob, Evie, or Rook, has to be well armed before charging into a grand war.

Oh, there is a lot of work to be done, and that’s not including the times when either brother or sister stops in their tracks on the rooftops to just be _awed_ at the view of the city around them. Neither can believe they’ve finally made it here after all this time.

London itself is a wonderland just _waiting_ to be explored.

 

* * *

 

**“Drink Me”**

_Hide in plain sight._

Once, Evie thought as a child that if you squeezed your eyes really shut, you would disappear and no one could see you. Now she feels the same as she hides in the cloak of night unseen, undetected. By right timing and strategy, she can pass through the area as though she were very small, unsuspected by all who thought there was nothing worth standing around for.

With every crouching sneak, every silent step, Evie’s presence becomes _smaller_ and _smaller_ , until the moment she reaches her target, then delivers the killing strike. Only when her mission is achieved will she scurry like a mouse, causing furious outrage as she escapes, with no one able to find her no matter how much they try.

Never seen, never heard is her philosophy. A true Assassin can strike when the time is right and the fight will be over before it had a chance to start.

 

* * *

 

**“Eat Me”**

_Be a blade in the crowd._

Strength in numbers is how Jacob likes to see it, as he strides in with the Rooks to create another fun spectacle on the streets. If everything is permitted, then well, why not use every means necessary to defeat their foes many at a time? The terms of a gang war are fair enough—as fair as a no-holds-barred clash between the Rooks and the Blighters can be.

It is an honor and a dream to be taking on the borough’s most fearsome. Jacob fights alongside those who share his ideals, one of a freer city for the people, and this is but one way to reach that goal.

He lives for the thrill of a good brawl. Each blow from his fists makes him think stronger and faster, and each foe taken down is a closer step to a well-earned victory. With every conquest, he grows, his very identity becoming _bigger_ and _bigger_ until all the Templars are knocked down and London’s deadliest will cower in fear of his prowess and might.

 

* * *

 

**The Caucus Race**

Getting caught and getting in trouble are almost inevitable in the life of an Assassin. And trouble is always abound when Assassins are involved, but when the police and the Templars are fast, Jacob and Evie have to be faster. It is a never-ending cycle of altercations with their foes; sometimes their actions go undetected, other times a fight comes in full-blown force.

Between the two Assassins, they have a perfectly capable skillset to take on their reckless foes four or five at a time. There’s nothing quite like a good ol’ skirmish on the streets, especially if it keeps their reflexes in shape and their wits ever sharp and steely. Whether alone or with company, the Fryes aren’t afraid to make it very clear what happens to those who get in their way.

Except for when too much chaos draws out the police, and sometimes a certain line has to be drawn if they’re going to continue remaining in the (silent and) good graces of the people they’re supposed to do right by. So it is also wise to make an escape, and escape they always will, whether it’s through dropping a smoke bomb or using the rope launcher to fly quickly out of sight. They’ll run away to vanish until the next provocation, the next deadly encounter, and the chase will merely start itself up again.

No one really loses, and everyone wins in the end.

 

* * *

 

**Sending in a Little Bill**

The Templar Order could be expected to claim a large stake in British lands. The presence of the British Rite had gone unchanged and unchallenged, leaving the Assassins with scarce hope that their goals could be achieved. Jacob and Evie understood this needed to change.

The Templars may have a great claim over England, but they had grown so huge that it would be too easy to strike them when they never expected it. Jacob’s plan of forming the Rooks would draw public attention, certain to smoke the Blighters out. Evie would focus on a more precise strategy, to investigate key leaders and remove them before their chaotic plans would be carried out.

By their shared resolve, it was certain that this year, the Assassins would free London from the looming giant that grew inside it.

 

* * *

 

**Advice from a Caterpillar**

Every Templar tells them the same.

 _Who_ are _you?_ They will ask. And as Assassins, Jacob and Evie answer with the things they resolve to do—mistakes to correct, chaos to eliminate, and a war they will put an end to and be victorious in.

The dying Templars will scoff and berate them, leering with their last words that the Assassins know _nothing_ of the madness they cause and the trouble they will only bury themselves in. _That_ is what terrifies the two.

Because even as they lay their victims—with dying eyes, bleeding throats, and life slowly leaving them—there is always that moment of _fear_. Fear that they can’t really explain themselves, because they are _not_ themselves, it seems. It’s true that they are young still, but it’s always so confusing to accomplish their mission, only to be left with more questions and less answers. Each kill, every move weakening the Templars, seems to go one step forward and two steps back.

And as they escape, barely out of the grasp of a swarm of guards, the Assassins can only think: _What is the truth they’re still not seeing?_

 

* * *

 

**The Hatter**

It was such a shame that in prestigious London where prestigious Templars were perched, donning the usual Assassin’s hood would give away their identities too soon. Luckily, Jacob didn’t mind so much as it meant investing in the “finer aspects” of a gentleman’s attire—namely, hats.

As the Rooks increased their presence in London, so too did Jacob need to match the description of his prominence. He traded his ordinary cap for a top hat and his casual clothing for an outfit that exuded flair and noble class. Now he was all set to swagger on the streets with his gang to send a clear and powerful message to the Templars.

Gone were the days of the boy from small town Crawley. Jacob Frye embraced the newfound freedom of London, and his identity as an Assassin and gang leader. The clean cups kept piling, and he simply had to move down for more.

 

* * *

 

**Very Good Advice**

For Evie, the ideal outcome was to remain completely unseen and take few lives as possible that weren’t targets. For Jacob, building a gang was a perfect way of “hiding in plain sight” while still alerting the Templars that they wouldn’t go down just yet.

Some encounters did not end smoothly. There were fights that could’ve been avoided if only they didn’t rush in so soon, like Evie cautioned, and there were traps that could’ve been prevented if only they acted sooner, like Jacob urged. Most of those blunders led to blame and guilt, and nothing felt certain or right anymore when they themselves were directly at fault.

During one particular spat where the twins refused to speak to each other, Henry had simply advised, “You two offer very good advice, but you seldom follow it. There is neither right nor wrong, but you must be able to agree on an effective plan.”

It was an order that had an unspoken message underneath: _This quarreling won’t get us anywhere. I know you both are better than that, because we cannot go up against the Templars alone._

After stewing in silence and letting their thoughts cool down, both Fryes had to admit, with reluctance, that their mentor was more right than either of them trying to assert their position over the other. When they reconcile, it is not with apologies or bowed heads or swallowed pride, but a renewed determination to accept each other’s help and utilize their strengths hand in hand. The result is a number of missions carried out by _two_ Assassins instead of one, and the outcomes of their feats are staggering.

Henry’s advice to them was indispensable. The unstoppable Frye twins, after all, work best when they work together.

 

* * *

 

**Painting the Roses Red**

The presence of the Blighters was already domineering, but when two Assassins and their steadily increasing gang of Rooks enter the picture, everything starts to become one hell of a ruckus.

A pity shame for the passersby who watch a kill in broad daylight. Or the poor police suddenly hot on their trail after a few rickety turns cause a lamppost or three to be run over. Frankly, anyone who doesn’t expect a skirmish to break out on the streets will be given the fright for their life. There’s nothing quite like seeing the blunt, brute force of a weapon on a person, whether it’s a brass-knuckled punch, a kukri’s clean gutting, or a cane-sword-studded beatdown. (And being on the receiving end of one of those isn’t so pretty either.)

But even thorns need to be pricked, and the proof of Jacob and Evie’s rough injuries will be there for all to see. Illustrious, lively London needs a new splash of color most days, and it surely won’t be from the red uniform the Blighters are wearing.

 

* * *

 

**The Lobster Quadrille**

The art of fighting is a lot like dancing—swift, sharp, and heavily reliant on movement, with some fancy tricks added in the mix. In a time where swords and guns cannot be hanging at a moment’s notice, those who fight have to settle scores with weapons easily available to them.

The result is a brutal brawl to take down the enemy using the fastest means necessary. Every punch from one’s fists is a deadly strike, a show of asking a choice without stopping to give wind. Every blow from the cane-sword is pain incarnate, a bash to the head and then another until the executioner finishes the job.

The dance is fun if one knows the steps and can readily answer to their time and tune. Those who are lost will simply find they can’t keep up.

The invitation still stands: _will they_ or _won’t they_ join the dance? It is only a matter of wondering, as the Fryes provoke their enemies by presence alone, who will try their patience, and who will lead the first step?

 

* * *

 

**“Off with their heads!”**

The Templars don’t like it when things don’t go their way. Their precious, structured order disrupted, their cruel, crippling practices terminated—it’s all a means of bringing the fight to their doorstep after the Assassins had to leave them in control for so long. But that is all going to change, and change starts with a pair of Assassins eager to turn the city upside down.

When they’re attacked by swarms of foes, be them Templars, guards, or crooks, the twins may not have a choice on where to run and hide. Luckily, they _do_ have a choice of how to deliver the deadliest takedown. In a time and place where weapons cannot be worn in public, there is no “honorable” way to do battle without stirring trouble, and even a battle is no longer just a show of one’s skill with a sword. Assassins may escape to live another day, but in some cases, perhaps it’s better to give their foes a beating they would never forget.

After all, in the fight to end oppression, there are no rules in taking down those who would try to end you.

 

* * *

 

**The White Rabbit**

The Shroud eludes its pursuers and knows no difference in discerning friend or foe.

But Evie is certain this is their true purpose, the one such knowledge that separates the Assassins and Templars from any other warring factions out on the streets. The presence of the Pieces of Eden, such instruments of power alone, poses a grave threat to the world, and they mustn’t fall into the hands of those who would use them for wrong. This, Evie understands, is what they must do as Assassins to bring peace to those who cannot fight for it on their own.

London must be freed, both from ruling oppression and the undiscovered artifact that will change the course of this war.

They have to find the Shroud before the Templars, before they are _too late_.

**Author's Note:**

> For prompts from the second book (e.g. Jabberwocky, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, unbirthdays), and discussion of the full game overall, look for Syndicate/Looking-Glass! The nonsense continues.


End file.
